News from the Island - Dan Perjovschi

The Romanian artist Dan Perjovschi (b. 1961) has garnered attention for his large-scale drawings that often cover entire gallery spaces. His drawings, rendered spontaneously in black felt marker directly on internal or external architectural surfaces, consist of texts and figures that often convey satire of a highly political bent. Perjovschi is inspired by many issues; no topic is beyond his scope, from global affairs to tabloid headlines. Perjovschi uses the idiom of graffiti and graphic story to satirize and comment on social issues, allowing global and local affairs to inform the final result. His drawings criticize the conflicting images that flood mass media, seeping into our thinking via advertising and shaping our lifestyles; Perjovschi’s work questions the values and practices of Western civilization.

Perjovschi first won international notice as Romania’s representative at the 1999 Venice Biennale, where he covered the floor of the Romanian Pavilion with cartoons and political graffiti about life in post-Communist Romania.

Perjovschi’s work has appeared on the walls of museums and contemporary galleries throughout Europe and America, including the Tate Modern, London, New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Perjovschi lives and work in Bucharest and Sibiu, Romania.